Who are some of your more recent musical influences?

Steve Vai has been one of my favorites since the mid 80s, and continues to inspire me. The most obvious influence in my playing, I think, is Steve Morse. He's the measuring stick for song writing and technique. I'm still working on both(laughs). I also really like the way Steve Lukather plays. I guess I really like anyone named Steve (laughs). Jeff Beck always inspires me. His attention to feel and creating a mood with note choices and bends knocks me on my butt every time.

What 's in your CD player right now?

It's in constant rotation. For just hanging out I still love the Stones. I love Luke and Simon Philips is an incredible drummer. Also, anything from Rush gets played pretty often. For newer stuff I really dig the Foo Fighters. Tight band.

What kind of effects do you use?

I use Digitech. I wrote the new record almost entirely with a GNX4. It's a great all in one tool. I've got a Shadow midi converter and Kurzweil brain for adding keyboard pads. Generally I don't use a whole lot of stuff on my main sound except for some verb. I bring a little delay in for the leads that sustain and sing - to smooth them out. I have an _expression pedal to fade in the amount I want, ala Steve Morse's set up. I think he came up with the best way to use effects live. It keeps everything flowing, rather than clicking effects on and off for wet sound and dry sound.

What's your current main guitar?

Ernie Ball MusicMan. I use the John Petrucci model mostly. I'm playing the one with the custom tremolo that has a piezo pickup wired inside it. With that I can play all the steel string parts from the albums at live shows. I have the piezo pickup running through a volume pedal, to a DI, then directly to the PA. I also have a new Axis Super Sport that was used on most of the clean leads on the Burn Season and Rate of Change record. It's the only one ever made in "Luke Blue". Awesome!

What about acoustic?

Carvin built me a beautiful custom steel string acoustic/electric. This thing totally rocks. I used it for all the acoustic parts on Suspension and most of the new record. I also still use the Chet Atkins nylon string for classical style. For live performance with the band, I use the piezo pickup on my MusicMan most of the time. I actually used the piezo for the acoustic song "Good and the Bad" on the new record.

What's your amp setup like these days?